Hope you are all well! This is Ting from Borderless House.

As you may know, the entry ban has caused a severe impact on foreign residents of Japan who are stuck overseas. One good news, the Japanese government has begun accepting applications from these foreign residents seeking re-entry to Japan, allowing them to come back to Japan gradually.

This month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan just announced that the government will allow foreign nationals to re-enter Japan from August 5th. We are happy to see some workers and international students who have been locked out of the country will be permitted to come back to Japan. We finally see the first step toward reopening the border gradually since the pandemic.

Who will be permitted to re-enter Japan

According to the report from the Japanese government, there are about 100,000 foreigners with valid residency statuses have been waiting overseas for coming back to Japan. And about 88,000 of them who left the country before the travel ban will be given priority to come back to the country. These individuals are international students who have already enrolled in the study abroad programs, businessmen, researchers, technical interns, and residents with working or other valid statuses.

The measure only applies to those who left the country before April 2nd and have not been able to return to Japan due to entry bans implemented to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Unfortunately, foreign residents who departed Japan after April 3rd or who have new plans to move here will be given lower priority for entry to Japan. Also, it does not cover people who are currently living in Japan who want to go overseas for non-essential purposes.

There are only a few exceptions, the government has allowed re-entry to foreign nationals who have special reasons to leave Japan, such as attending a family funeral or undergoing a medical operation, and summons from a foreign court to appear as a witness.

Specific conditions for re-entry

Those foreign residents who want to re-enter Japan will have to take necessary procedures at the local Japanese Embassy or consular office in their countries. They must obtain the documents confirming their re-entry permission from their local Japanese Embassy.

These individuals will be required to take PCR tests at the time of their departures to confirm they are not infected with the coronavirus and provide proof that within 72 hours before their flight that they have undergone a PCR test. They will also have to take another PCR test upon entering Japan.
*PCR test= polymerase chain reaction test

Other than the test, a 14-day observation of one’s health condition prior to their arrival is also required. And if the tests are negative, they must self-quarantine for another 14 days upon their arrival.

As the limited capacity of conducting PCR tests at quarantine stations at airports remains a problem. The Japanese government aims to set up “PCR Centers” at three main international airports in Japan: Narita, Haneda, and Kansai airports by September. The government is expected to increase inspection capacity to 10,000 people per day. Meanwhile, to prevent the coronavirus from crossing the border, they would set a quota of 500 re-entries per day for the moment.

Next stage & Keep being BORDERLESS

“It is important to gradually resume international movement of people,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said. The Japanese government will start negotiating with some countries and regions, including New Zealand, Australia, Cambodia, Singapore, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Laos, and Taiwan, to ease travel restrictions for business people.

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, it has become difficult for everyone in many ways. For us, as one of the concepts at Borderless House is to keep the ratio of 50% of Japanese and 50% of non-Japanese to live together in one house, however, we haven't been able to have more foreign residents to move in Borderless House in the past few months. Being able to live with people from various countries has been the greatest value of living in Borderless House, we will keep our value and protect "BORDERLESS HOUSE” in this difficult time.

We keep working on developing amazing services to our residents and we will continue creating great opportunities to connect with people from all over the world. Of course, we won’t stop promoting Borderless House to more people actively!

Stay safe and we look forward to seeing you again at BORDERLESS HOUSE!

▼▼▼Check our updated blogs regarding COVID-19 & Share House▼▼▼

Regarding our policies in prevention of spreading of COVID-19(2020.07.20)

【Tenant's Story】Greater Connections with Housemates during COVID19

Surviving Coronavirus in a Tokyo Sharehouse